A READ GUIDE For Families
The Monster Who Ate My Peas
Author: Danny Schnitzlein; Illustrator: Matt Faulkner
R Repeat the Book
First Read (events): Look at the cover, read the title and say, “I wonder if this boy wanted the monster to eat his peas? Let’s
read and find out.” As you read, explain any words your child may not understand like bloated, reeked, candid, ghastly, boorishly. Have fun acting out words like begged, mysterious, writhed, disgust, squinched. Point out things in the illustrations also
to help support the vocabulary. During the first read, focus on what is happening in the story—the events. After finishing the
first read, ask the “why” question suggested in the A (Ask Questions) section of this guide.
Second Read (emotions): Before reading say, “Now that you know this story so well, you can help me read it. At the end of
the story, after the boy ate the peas, he said that he was happier than he had ever been before. I wonder why he felt so happy?
Let’s read and find out.” Follow the same procedure as the first read with the vocabulary, but focus on emotions or feelings of
the characters during this read. Say things like, “He must be really surprised to see a monster in his house.” “I bet he’s feeling
sad about losing his soccer ball.” After finishing the read, ask the “why” question for the second read given in the A (Ask
Questions) section of this guide.
Third Read (child tells the story): Before reading, look at the cover again. Say: “Remember how the boy wanted the monster to eat his peas at first? I wonder why the boy changed his mind. Let’s read it again and find out.” As you go through the
book, instead of reading all the words, encourage your child to tell you what is happening on each page and how the characters
feel about what is happening. Use vocabulary from the book to restate what your child says if he/she does not use the vocabulary (for instance if your child says, “The monster waved his arms around,” you could say, “Yes, his tentacles writhed from his
torso,” as you act it out). Ask the “why” question for the third read after you finish.
E Engage and Enjoy
In addition to acting out words as described in the first read, ,use different voices for the different characters when you read.
Encourage your child also to come up with a monster voice, and to act out things in the story with you. Examples: “Show me
how you look when you’re disgusted. “Squinch” up your eyes. Make your arms writhe.”
A
Ask Questions
Remember that the talk surrounding the book is the most important thing. Encourage thinking and conversations by asking
these questions at the end of each read: After Read 1: “Why did the boy tell the monster that he didn’t need him at the end of
the story? After Read 2: “At the end of the story, why did the boy say he was happier than he had ever been?” After Read 3:
“Why did the boy finally eat his peas?”
D Do More with the Book
Continue the fun of the story by choosing some of the activities on the back to complete with your child.
Have your child create a vegetable collage monster using pictures of vegetables cut from newspapers and magazines, glued
onto a paper bag or drawing paper. Help her/him idenfy what vegetables make up the different parts of the monster.
With your child, look for peas in the grocery store to discover the different ways they can be purchased—canned, frozen,
dried, fresh, etc. Look at pictures of pea plants to see how they grow, learn about the parts of the plant (pod, vine,
leaves, roots, tendrils) and learn if there are different kinds of peas besides green peas. What is the difference between
peas and beans?
Your child could help you plant some peas in the late winter to watch them grow.
Tri-fold a sheet of drawing or copy paper to create a monster involving you, your child, and another person. One person
draws the monster’s head and neck on the top secon. Without looking at the head, another person draws the torso of
the monster in the middle secon. Without looking at the other parts of the paper, the third person draws the legs on
the bo*om secon. Open up the paper and connect the three parts to see the silly-looking monster that was created!
Come up with a name for it.
At a meal, have everyone tell about a food that at one me they didn’t like, but now they do, or a food they thought they
wouldn’t like but then did like a.er tasng it. Are they all vegetables?
This story was wri*en in rhymes. Read some poems or stories by authors like Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, and
Marilyn Singer.
At the grocery store, or when ordering food for take-out, encourage your child to find some new food to try.
Take a field trip with your child to the farmer’s market or a produce stand to see all of the different kinds of vegetables. Buy
some fresh peas if available. Your child can help you “shell” the peas to have for a meal. Compare the taste of fresh peas
to canned ones.
Try some of the vegetables menoned in the story that your child may never have had before, like brussel sprouts, mushrooms, beets, or eggplant. Let your child help find the vegetable in the grocery store, look at recipes, and then help prepare it. Talk about the features of the vegetable while preparing it—texture, color, parts like stem, peeling, seeds. How
does it grow—on a vine, in the ground? Talk about how we are preparing it—paring, chopping, slicing, steaming, frying,
ba*ering, etc.-- as we cook together.
Read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss with your child. Ask your child if it reminds her/him of The Monster Who Ate My
Peas? Talk about ways the two stories are alike and they ways they are different.
With your child, locate on a map the places menoned in the book: Bali, Raleigh, Chile and Sweden. Look at and talk about
where these places are located compared to where we live. Are they cies or countries? Look at the foods that they eat
there. What are some foods children who live there might not like to eat?
Try foods from these places.
The monster had tentacles. What real animals have tentacles? Find books and videos to look at with your child to learn more
about the octopus and the squid. Watch videos to see how the tentacles writhe when they move. Take your child to the
Georgia Aquarium to observe tentacles in acon up close!
Tentacles have sucon cups. Ask your child what other things s/he can think of that has or uses sucon cups? Find things
around the house that have or use sucon cups. Ask your child why these items have sucon cups on them.
If a monster offered to eat something your child doesn’t like, ask your child what s/he would be willing to give the monster in
return, if anything.
The boy in the story showed courage when he ate the peas instead of giving his dog to the monster. Ask your child if s/he can
remember a me when it took courage to do something s/he was afraid to do at first. Encourage your child to draw a
picture and write about it: “I showed courage when______________”
The Rollins Center for Language & Literacy at the Atlanta Speech School is committed to
providing teachers and school leaders professional development in research-based strategies
to foster the language and literacy skills of young children.
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